Casual players look to steer past traffic slowdown

Perhaps more than any other restaurant segment, casual dining is at a turning point, its leading brands forced to make major changes because of the troubled economy and the sector’s own track record of aggressive growth.

The largest casual players are dramatically curtailing new-unit development in order to establish a restaurant supply that can match consumers’ waning demand. The segment’s biggest chains are tweaking, or in some cases overhauling, their menus